This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content here are presented solely by the author, and The Times of Israel assumes no responsibility for them. In case of abuse, report this post.

Peres on eve of state visits abroad: Lauds Abbas & Fayad – Ignores their schools- to whom is he accountable?

Blogger

David Bedein
David Bedein, who grew up in Philadelphia and moved to Israel in 1970 at the age of 20, is an
… [More]MSW community organizer by profession and an expereinced investigative journalist. In 1987 he established the Israel Resource News Agency, with offices at the Beit Agron Int’l Press Center in Jerusalem, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research. In 1991, Bedein was the special CNN middle east radio correspondent. Since 2001, Bedein has contributed features to the newspaper Makor Rishon. In 2006, Bedein became the foreign correspondent for the Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. He is the author of "ROADBLOCK TO PEACE- How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict: UNRWA policies reconsidered"and the director and producer of the movie, CAMP JIHAD [Less]

This month, Israel’s President, Shimon Peres, travels to Canada and to the United States.

Israel’s president is not supposed to make political statements nor engage in diplomatic forays.

Israel’s presidency is supposed to be largely a largely ceremonial title, like the current status of current monarchs of of Western Europe.

Imagine if Queen Elizabeth addressed the UN on the subject of British hegemony over the Falkland islands?

Yet Israel’s president, accountable to no one, on the eve of a state visit to North America, continues to issue a flurry of proclamations, lauding praise on Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayad, the heads of the Palestinian Authority, as if they are Israel’s only hope for peace.

Peres repeats the mantra that “the gap between Israel and the PA is very small”.

For the past four years, our news agency and research center have responded to Peres’s lauding of the PA leaders and his assessment that there is a only a small gap between Israel and the PA with questions to Peres; Have you seen the school books that indoctrinate a curriculum of war for the next generation of Palestinian Arab school children to imbibe?

3. The new Palestinian school books mention Israel only as an enemy, in reference to “occupation of lands” in 1948 and 1967: “There is no doubt that the Israeli occupation has a negative impact on [Palestinian] agriculture and its export,” (p. 8) (Lughatuna al-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language) Vol. 1, 10th grade textbook, p. 102).

4. The new Palestinian school books present Zionism only as an enemy movement: “The Palestinian people are under an oppressive siege, limiting their movement and way of life,” (p. 9) (Al-Tarbiyah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Education), Vol. 1, 5th grade textbook, p. 49).

“The Palestinian family has problems…stemming from the occupation…it loses father, mother or son to death or imprisonment…endures the difficulties of life…,” (p. 11) (Al-Tarbiyah al-Wataniyya (National Education), 5th grade textbook, p. 23).

5. The new Palestinian School Books make the false claim that an “extremist Zionist” set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969, (p. 12) (Tarikh al’Alam al-Hadith wal-Mu’asir (History of the new Modern World), 10th grade textbook, p. 106) when it was really a mentally unstable fundamentalist Christian Australian.

6. The new Palestinian school books teach that the First Zionist Congress at Basel fostered the Zionist State based on a decision of the World Zionist Congress to create a racist regime in Palestine (p. 13) (Tarikh al-‘Alam al-Hadith wal Mu-‘asir (History of the News Modern World), 10th grade textbook, pp. 60-64).

7. The new Palestinian School books teach that the only ancient inhabitants of Israel were Arabs, ignoring any ancient Jewish presence.

“Concentrated…in the land of Al-Sham [Greater Syria]…was the culture of the Canaanite and Aramaic peoples who migrated there from the Arab peninsula,” (p.14-15) (Tarikhal-Hadaratal-Qadima (History of Ancient Civilizations), 5th grade textbook, Foreword).

8. The new Palestinian school books teach that Palestinians must use war and violence – especially martyrdom – to accomplish their goals:

The warrior goes to war faced with one of the good options: victory or martyrdom in battle for the sake of Allah. (Ibid. Vol. 1, 5th grade textbook, p. 70).

“Allah gave the people of this land (Al-Sham and Palestine) an important task: they must stand on the forefront of the Muslim campaign against their enemies, and only if they fulfill their duty to their religion, nation, and land will they be rewarded as stated in the scriptures.” (Al-Tarbiya al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Education), Vol 2, 10th grade textbook, p. 50).

9. The new Palestinian school books feature children with names such as Jihad (holy war) and Nidal (struggle). (p.22) (Tarikh al-Hadarat al-Qadima (History of Ancient Civilizations), 5th grade textbook, p.6).

10. The new Palestinian school books stress the importance of “return” of refugees to all of Palestine – by violence:

“The wrong must be made right by returning them to their homes: we returned to the homeland after a long absence.” (Lughatunaal-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language), Vol 2, 5th grade textbook, p. 43).

“Returning to the homes, the plains and the mountains, under the banners of glory, jihad [holy war] and struggle” (Lughatunaal-Jamila (Our Beautiful Language), Vol 1, 5th grade textbook, p.88).

Yet Shimon Peres, the man who fostered negotiations with the PLO a generation ago under the philosophy of the NEW MIDDLE EAST, departs for a state visit to Canada and then to the United States, knowing that his praise of the peaceful intentions of the nascent Palestinian Authority will bring him continued adulation.

Will any journalist, diplomat or cleric challenge Peres about the real message of total war that the Palestinian Authority indoctrinates in the next generation?

At the very least: Peres should be asked to whom he is accountable to… in his ceremonial post.

Get the Daily Edition free by email for selected top stories from our 24/7 coverage

Email:

The email is either missing or invalid

Name:

Please enter your full name

Country:

Please select your country

Almost finished...

We need to confirm your email address first.

To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.

By signing up to The Times of Israel mailing list, you hereby accept The Times of Israel Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and you agree to receive the latest news & offers from The Times of Israel and its partners or ad sponsors.